Over four years, President Biden issued 80 pardons and 4,165 commutations for a total of 4,245 acts of clemency, the total being more than any president in the 20th century, according to Pew Research.
With the Trump administration investigating the circumstances behind the Biden administration’s heavy reliance on the presidential autopen, turns out the only hand-signed pardon during Biden’s final months in office was for his son, Hunter.
The former president granted clemency to more than 1,500 individuals in his final weeks in office, the largest single-day act of clemency in US history.
“[A]ccording to documents reviewed by the Department of Justice and White House officials, virtually all of those pardons were signed using the autopen,” the Daily Mail reported. “The one glaring exception was Biden’s controversial hand-signed pardon of his son Hunter, shielding him from prosecution for any federal crimes committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.”
Biden did not hand-sign preemptive pardons that came in the final days of his presidency for other family members, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and members and staff of the House committee investigating Jan. 6.
The blanket pardon for Hunter covers any offenses against the U.S. that he “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024, and came after Biden vowed not to “interfere.”
“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” he said before his December 2024 pardon.
Fox Business Evening Edit anchor Elizabeth MacDonald cited the Heritage Foundation to report that the autopen was used for “nearly all executive actions and official documents.”
New developments in the Biden autopen controversy. Joe Biden claims he personally made all the “decisions about the pardons and executive orders”—really? On all of his 4,500 commutations and pardons, a record? The exact same autopen signature is on his unconstitutional… pic.twitter.com/FJu7XSQNuN
— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) June 6, 2025
She added, “That includes policies damaging America like opening the U.S. border and undercutting US energy with his ban on U.S. [natural] gas exports. Someone used it to commute criminal sentences while he was vacationing in St. Croix.”
Social media users were skeptical that Biden was aware of what the autopen signatures were affixed to, but folks have long given up on expecting the DC political class to be held accountable for anything.
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:
We all know this and thanks for highlighting it but when will ANYONE be held accountable? It’s laughable.
Blondi has to go. Trump should appoint Judge Jeanine acting AG. @realDonaldTrump
— cheap scotch ron (@cheapscotchron) June 6, 2025
He needs to be sworn in under oath and say this, not just write a tweet
— Lisa Miller (@LisaMil04911006) June 6, 2025
He’s full of crap..He never even knew what he was signing the first day he was in office.He just signed what was in front of him..No way he knew of any of these pardons except hunters pardon and the rest of his family
— louis (@DICEY63) June 6, 2025
His full-blown dementia would preclude his “ability” to take any actions. Drugged up doesn’t make him competent either…’cause “under the influence.”
— Lady Penquin (@Lady_Penquin) June 6, 2025
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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